The world’s first female space tourist, Anousheh Ansari, will write her own “Captain’s Blog” from orbit next week.

The Star Trek-style online diary is believed to be the first weblog ever written in space, say Space Adventures, organisers of her $20million out-of-this-world holiday.

US citizen Anousheh is set to blast off on Monday aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket for an eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station. She will be only the fourth private space explorer, having won her place after another tourist, Japanese Internet tycoon Dice-K, was judged unfit to fly.

Iranian-born Anousheh, who was 40 on Tuesday, has already begun her blog during training in Moscow’s Star City. In it, she reveals how she dreamed of flying to the stars when she was in bed as a child. Anousheh, chairman of Prodea Systems, says: “This is the first blog I have ever written. I’m usually a private person, but with what has happened in my life, I feel an obligation to share this experience with everyone out there. I look forward to sharing the next few weeks of my life with each and every one of you.

Anousheh has helped prepare her own outfit to wear on the space mission, which will also deliver a new crew to the station. She chose a special blue fabric for her space suit and will change into a polo shirt and shorts with cambric panties (not sure why we need to know that!) once on the orbiting outpost.

The first female space holiday girl will not be allowed to carry any make-up on her trip. Russian scientists say she may use only moisturising creams, a hygienic lipstick, and balms in space. The Soyuz rocket will set off for the space station just as shuttle astronauts head home. The Atlantis is due to land on Wednesday.

Today, astronauts Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean embarked on the second spacewalk of the mission to continue construction of the space station.